Kosovo Court Convicts Serb Former Prison Guard Of War Crimes
By Adile Agushi
The Basic Court of Pristina on Wednesday sentenced a Serb former prison guard, Dragisa Milenkovic, to seven years’ imprisonment for war crimes against civilians during the Kosovo war, the sentence to include his time spent in detention since June 21, 2023.
Milenkovic was found guilty of the torture, physical and psychological abuse and inhumane and life-threatening mistreatment of Kosovo Albanians held in prisons in Pristina and Lipjan/Lipljan, in collaboration with other guards during the 1998-99 war.
According to the prosecution, after prisoners were transferred from Dubrava prison to jails in Pristina and Lipjan/Lipljan, Milenkovic forced them to pass through a cordon, hitting them with sticks, punches and kicks.
Psychological violence was also inflicted, it said. Milenkovic was charged with acting in collaboration with three other officials, including the former director of the Pristina District Prison, Ljubomir Cimburovic, and two guards Predrag Bradic and Milivoje Ilic.
Judge Kujtim Krasniqi told the court on Wednesday that Milenkovic was also fined 1,500 euros for illegal weapons possession. If he cannot or does not want to pay, the court may convert the fine to an extra prison sentence, calculating 20 euros per day of imprisonment.
Police seized a Zastava 9mm-calibre revolver, gun cartridges, a military knife and a metal bar as well as documents and a mobile phone as evidence during a raid on Milenkovic’s house.
Milenkovic is also obliged to pay court expenses of 300 euros plus 100 euros for the victims’ compensation fund.
The verdict can be appealed.
Milenkovic’s arrest in 2023 sparked protests in his hometown, the northern Serb-majority municipality of Gracanica. After his arrest, local Serbs gathered to block the road that connects Pristina to Gjilan/Gnilanje.
According to the Humanitarian Law Centre Kosovo, HLCK, in 2024 the Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office filed 13 indictments for war crimes. Six were filed in absentia for 11 suspects, all allegedly members of Serbian military or police forces.
Seven indictments were against 13 former members of Serbian forces who had already been arrested. In 2023, eight indictments were filed in absentia against 61 accused.
